State deals Safari Wild project major blow

TAMPA Neighbors don't want Safari Wild, a wild animal park, next door in rural Polk County, and now it appears the state doesn't either.

The Department of Community Affairs has appealed Polk's development order allowing Safari Wild to be built in the Green Swamp, an environmentally sensitive area that supplies drinking water to much of Central Florida.

It is asking for an administrative hearing on the issue to be scheduled.

Polk issued its development order in October.

After a 45-day review, the state determined the project, co-owned by former Lowry Park Zoo CEO Lex Salisbury, is a commercial development located in an area where such development is prohibited.

Salisbury has told county and state officials Safari Wild is a working game farm/ranch. He says it's an agri-tourist enterprise and should be allowed in the Green Swamp, where there are many other working farms.

Plans for Safari Wild originally included a welcome center, hotel cottages and a restaurant. The venture, which is under construction, is to eventually house 1,000 wild animals on 250 acres. Small groups of pre-booked guests will be led on tours by trained safari guides.

According to the state's analysis, released Wednesday, the development order is inconsistent with Polk's comprehensive plan, land development regulations and the Green Swamp principles for guiding development.

The swamp is known as the hydrological heart of Central Florida. Its vast series of bogs, forests, springs and pastures, feed four major rivers.

"Any commercial tourist attraction in the Green Swamp, I think the state should absolutely not allow that," said Robert King, who lives next door to Safari Wild.

Community affairs has the authority to appeal any development order issued in an area of critical state concern, which is how the swamp is classified.

In its petition for appeal, the state noted the project:

- Failed to obtain necessary building permits on certain structures

- Intruded into wetland areas where that was avoidable

- Includes 70 acres within the 100-year flood plain which no provision in the county's comprehensive plan allows

- Appears to be a zoo or theme park

- Has an animal park and restaurant, which represent commercial uses

- Has structures, including a Welcome Barn, intended for public use that do not fit the definition of agri-tourism

The review also found the facility's Welcome Barn, parking lot and driveway sit too close to wetlands.

The project fails to conserve and protect the environmental and economic resources, the petition said, and represents a threat to the quality of ground and surface water.

The zoo's board of directors forced Salisbury out of his job following investigations by 8 On Your Side and The Tampa Tribune, which revealed he mixed the zoo's assets and animals with those of Safari Wild.